Barbarian DOS version on DOSBox version 0.74-3, max 100% cycles; on speeds 2-4 the game plays at a constant speed, so max cycles are consistent.
"Speed 3" refers to the speed selected before gameplay: I chose this as most appropriate for a run, but any speed other than 1 is reasonable.
Start time is the first frame of gameplay when the mouse cursor shows up (it's centered so it might be hard to spot, but it's there); end time is the first frame of the "CONGRATULATIONS" screen. Original video date: 2024/01/21
This game was available on numerous contemporary platforms (Amiga version was 1987), but this version from 1989 certainly has its own quirks. The most obvious ones show up in the video: jumping off a ledge onto another screen is perfectly okay even though it'd normally kill you, there's a screen where climbing down a ladder takes to the same screen but climbing down the ladder above, and dying after defeating the game's boss (while specifically having lives leftover) will finish the game. It's definitely worth stating that the keyboard controls involve only function keys (e.g., left/up/down/right map to F1/F2/F3/F4), so even controlling the game is its own chore. In spite of these, the game is an interesting challenge, and pretty impressive for 1989 having five different video modes available (CGA, EGA, and the monochrome Hercules among them) and a rather great PC-Speaker voice at the beginning.
The run itself could be improved in little ways (especially the boss fight) but I think the route is about as good as it could be, not a lot of wiggle room in a linear game such as this. I have a separate run that plays the game closer to an "intended" victory, but that's for another video.
12 окт 2024
